Written Answers Tuesday 12 February 2008

Scottish Executive

Health

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many whole-time equivalent qualified school nurses there are in the (a) Dundee City, (b) Angus and (c) Aberdeenshire local authority areas and in total.

Nicola Sturgeon: The staff in post table in the nursing and midwifery section of the Workforce Statistics website at www.isdscotland.org/workforce gives the whole-time equivalent (WTE) and head count of school nurses employed in NHS Scotland by NHS board and region and by agenda for change band. Information is not available at local authority area level. WTE adjusts headcount to take account of part time working. Latest available data is at 30 September 2007.

  (Our intention is that those school aged children and young people in areas of greatest need will in the future have improved access to a wider range of nursing and other health care support. A health care model targeted at deprived and other areas with high numbers of disadvantaged children will be developed in 2008.)

Interception of Communications

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many telephone interceptions have been authorised by Scottish ministers since May 2007 and how this compares with the number for the equivalent period in the previous year.

Kenny MacAskill: Details of the number of interception warrants issued by the Scottish ministers are contained in the Interception of Communications Commissioner’s annual reports, which are laid before this Parliament. The most recent annual report (for 2006) was laid before Parliament on 28 January 2008 and is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 44564)

Police

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has anent the number of (a) ex-servicemen and (b) ex-servicewomen who joined Scottish police forces in each of the last seven years.

Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally. Data on the previous occupations of police officers is retained by individual police forces.

Prison Service

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make a ministerial statement on the open prison system and on HM Prison Castle Huntly in particular.

Kenny MacAskill: I will consider the requirement for a ministerial statement when I have seen the review currently being undertaken by the Scottish Prison Service.

Prison Service

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the review of HM Prison Castle Huntly will be conducted and who will be involved in it.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The review undertaken by the Scottish Prison Service will be in two parts. It will consider the individual circumstances of the decision to transfer Robert Foye to the SPS Open Estate and allow his access to the community, and it will review the operation of the open prison estate, its role and the process of transferring prisoners there from closed prisons.

  The review will be carried out by members of staff from the Partnerships and Commissioning Directorate of the Scottish Prison Service and not those who are already involved in the management of the open estate or the transfer of prisoners to it.

Prison Service

Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the remit is of the review of HM Prison Castle Huntly following the abscondment of Robert Foye announced on 24 January 2008.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The review undertaken by the Scottish Prison Service will be in two parts. It will consider the individual circumstances of the decision to transfer Robert Foye to the SPS Open Estate and allow his access to the community, and it will review the operation of the open prison estate, its role and the process of transferring prisoners there from closed prisons.